India’s City of Love

Agra is also a city where you can see the Taj from many angles, reinforcing one man’s deep love and devotion to his favourite wife of 3 decades. Whether you sit in the famous Mehtab garden across the river, or take a boat ride and view the mausoleum in the soft orange light of the setting sun, the monument of love glows, commanding your complete attention.

Gujarat’s Islamic roots

Gujarat, a state rooted in Hindu and Jain mythology and religious history, is home to some of the early forms of Islamic Architecture in India. Like other regions in India, it completely transcends the modern concept of a ‘state,’ reinforcing, once again, that this country is an amazing confluence of cultures and religions. Several buildings…

Theyyam, the Dance of the Gods.

All around is there is silence, even the coconut trees are waiting. The drummers begin, creating a tempo that increases quickly, whipping themselves and the air around into a frenzy. The ‘god’ then appears and begins his dance, moving around in circles, at once quickly and then slower, swinging his sword in slow deliberate movements.

The Forgotten Chettiars…

But the red dust and eerie silence is quietly watched over by some of the largest, most beautiful, stately mansions one has ever seen. They fill this village, and all the others in the region, reminiscent of a bygone era, when the rich and enterprising Chettiar community, financiers of the royals, lived like kings.